What a trip!

Well, we're home! It was definately an interesting adventure. For John-Paul it was an amazing opportunity. He got to work and hang with some pretty impressive people. And hopefully he made a good impression and some new friends along the way. Jessica was a real trooper for most of the time. I have no doubt she would be a real asset for another project either with JP or on her own abilities. She has awesome qualities within her personality and physical being that could take her to the top of any charts. Her self drive and motivation I commend and am sometimes envious of. I personally have learned a LOT from this experience and from my children in so many ways! I hope and pray I can utilize these lessons to strengthen myself and daily life situations for the future. So, stay tuned!! This is only the beginning!

Days into Nights

We had Thursday off last week and decided to take Gramma to Black Bear Diner. I hope she liked it as much as we do. After that we went to Wild Things Inc. animal compound where Charlie and Amanda escorted us through a very interesting tour. Charlie loves animals and it shows! He rescues and trains all types of animals for the entertainment industry. If you ever see a picture of a tiger that has "stars" as eyebrows, you will know that he is a friend of Charlie's. After the main tour, we were able to meet the elephants on a personal level. We fed them carrots and ......pumpkins! It was really cool. Did you know an elephant can pick up things as small as a blade of grass with their trunks? It got colder and drizzly, but we had to take Jessica to see the Pacific Coast of Monterey. I'm sure it would've been nice on a semi-sunny day but it was too cold to even want to get out of the car. She really liked the sealions at Bird Rock. John-Paul worked on Friday, while Jessica and Gramma went to the Tech Mueseum. Jessica is my little scientist. She came home and started to make "stuff" out of the hotel room soaps and lotions!! "Look mom, it sticks":) On Saturday they didn't need JP for the motorcade scene so he got another day off. But I had to create a couple of hairstyles so they slept in and then we went to the Sky High Sports that afternoon. We played trampoline dodgeball !! It was kinda hard but Jessica hit all the big kids out before they even had a chance to get her first!! She was amazing in there. I think JP just liked to bounce becuase he would always dodge the balls or pick one up and just hand it to anyone else to throw! Today is Monday. We will be shooting a stunt type scene this afternoon so Jessica and I will be going to see Four Christmases before we head to the location. It is going to be a long night but it is also our last day of shooting. We pack up tomorrow and come HOME on Wednesday night.....hopefully! (Pray for no snow!)

The Black Bear Diner

OK ! If you are ever on the west coast, Nevada and Arizona you have got to go to a Black Bear Diner !! They have amazing food and the portions are worth every dime! We have benn filming there for 2 days now and, if I lost any weight before we left I gained it all back and then some. The cooks and crew were so helpful and generous with puting up with us that I was ready to bus tables and help them in any way I could. The pancakes were HUGE !! I only had 2 on my plate and couldn't finish one. Thank goodness we were shooting inside all day. It rained in the morning but it cleared up later in the day. Gramma Bonnie is coming tonight and the kids are ecstatic! We will have a day or 2 off this week also and the owner of the BLack Bear Diner has invited us to his brothers "animal compound" where he trains animals for films. How cool ! Now, I gotta tell ya bout a fabulous "Rock Star" named Paula Nelson ! She is so nice, easy going and great to work with. You might recognize the name.....yes her dad is Willie Nelson. I can't wait to work with her again....fun person.....especially with Ricky and Kerry!!

So many Days.....So little Time!

Well, another couple of days have passed and it all seems like a blurr. Everything kinda goes in reverse orders and it is hard to believe how it all gets transformed into a full length film. Today is Sunday and it was VERY cold and rainy here. We did some scenes with Sally the waitress today. Sally is played by our friend Linda who came some of you got to meet when she came to visit us in Huntsville. She's a fun person. We were shooting at this diner just south of our hotel by about fifteen minutes! It is a really cool place. It's called Black Bear Diner! Good food and Good people! Their pancakes are PERFECTLY delicious ! We'll be there again tomorrow so we'll have a stack for ya. See you then.....write us back if you like.... we're missing you guys!

Our Day in the Pasture with Big Mike

The day started out kinda chilli! We've been layering our clothes to try to keep warm but then the sun comes out and I can't remember where I put my jacket. Some days are running together as well. But this morning was kinda different for mommy........I got to shave Tiny's head. He tricked me. I thought he didn't have any hair! I was a little scared but he's a tough guy. (And very nice to work with as well) We got to do some action shots today involving the gun and some "man beating". The day was beautiful until the sun went behind a hill and then I froze again! We get to relax a little bit tomorrow morning.

Monday, Monday.....

Well, got into bed late last night and had to be on set by 730 am ! Whew....we love it! JP gets up and gets ready without too much trouble. Everyday is a new adventure. Today we got to play a little bit more with Ms. Paula and Mr. Tim. They are so much fun! We got to ride in the trailer to three separate locations. It was a bumpy ride but most everybody in the trailer survived.... even when it wasn't Ben driving. It is VERY cold here. JP and Mr. Tim were lucky that they had coats as their wardrobe, but Ms Paula didn't. Buurrr! We hope ya'll are getting your holiday parties and shopping done.

25+/- People Sharing one trailer on location- Yes! It works!

Hi there everybody! Wow, what a cold sunny day. The wind blew with a chill to it that went right to the bones. CeCe the nice lady that cooks the breakfasts for us here at the hotel invited us to come play at her friends "Ranch". They have GoKarts, all kinds of playground equipment, basketball hoops, football fields and rope swings. We don't have a rental car so we have to beg for rides or ask the hotel shuttle to take us places, so we didn't get there until very late in the afternoon. But we had a great time. They also had some golden retriever puppies......oh so cute!! Today is Saturday and we wrapped early so we're about to go bowling! He did his own stunts today! He got "hit" by a car. Our new friends, Paula and Tim are a lot of fun to work with. Hope you all have your Christmas trees up for Santa!

The Foster Home

Wow! I can't believe I've had no time to blog to you out there. John-Paul and Jessica are real troopers. Jessica hangs out in the trailer a lot right now because it is pretty cold and she fears for getting in the way. She wants to try to help but she's afraid she'll mess something up. But I try to tell to just stick with me and be my assistant and she'll be fine. She's such a strong little girl. She took a nasty fall when she was running around with the other foster kids. People who witnessed it say she literally "flew" through the air. She is one tough cookie! The night scenes were hardest on JP to shoot because he would be so tired. Those of you who know the Hollywood "Hurry up and wait" game. It's all about being ready for whatever comes your way. JP and Jess wanted to play with the other foster kids so bad but everybody has their part and we got to get the job done too so everyone can enjoy the outcome. We enjoyed working with Priscilla Barnes and watching her bring out her artistic abilities. Today is Friday, WE HAVE THE DAY OFF !! So, I'll have to write "ya'll" later on what exciting events are about to take place! Chao

Five Golden Days !

Timing in this business is an amazing thing ! Who knew so many thing either come together or fall apart at the drop of a cue. We love this business. It is ever changing. Jessica got to play a role of one of the school children in the library. And tomorrow, she may get to play one of the foster children with a line or two. We finally got to relax a little in the trailer today. There's just enough room to do the wii sports to stay in shape. :) We said goodbye to Corbin and the Roberts today, thoug hI'm sure we'll see each other again one day. It's starting to seem like a second family out here. JP did some wardrobe changes today but I can't recall that he was on set except for a small library scene. So he got to interact with other people his age. If we get off early enough tomorrow, we're gonna try for the indoor heated pool.

On the Fourth Day of Shooting......Mr President gave to me

Today was Saturday! Only the fourth day of shooting and JP is really wanting to get into a swimming pool ! But...today started at 1045 am pick up to go to the Oval Office set that was constructed by students at Sobrato High School, here in Morgan Hill. They did an amazing job! It was perfect. And for those of you who ever watched the infamous series The West Wing.....yes... the desk, props and set dressing should look very familiar to you. A bit of trivia is these things were on loan from the actual studio!! Jessica is spending time with a new friend named Amber. She let Corbin sign her "Laffy Taffy" sweatshirt. Jp was excited to get back to the hotel to play his Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. But his favorite part of the day was making people laugh on set today. They gave him a little freedom to add lib some fun stuff. It was a nice surprise to get back to the hotel and find that Mr Joe Estevez had left JP a personalized photo. We are looking forward to some "kid time" soon. These are some pretty long days but we have heard nothing but positive comments regarding JP's abilities to stay steady and strong.

Black Friday

Today our call to set was 930am. The location was the Saint Claire Hotel in downtown San Jose. John-Paul's wardrobe was a black suit with a red striped tie and a pair of amazingly shiny yet stylish shoes. He was a true professional today! He was able to keep up and sometimes ahead of the game. As Jill did make-up I worked on smoothing Eliza and Connie's locks into place. Mr Joe only needed a touch up when his one wild hair came loose. This was dinner at the White House scene. Everyone looked marvelous. And those who really know JP and our family will probably never see him in a suit like this again unless he's going to the Oscar's ! :) Tomorrow......the Oval Office !

Our Thanksgiving !

Our Turkey Day consisted of finger foods, and a bottle of wine for Mommy. We saw the 3D version of Bolt at the nearest theater and came back to set up the Wii in the hotel lobby. Our wonderful hostess of the hotel was Mrs. Teresa. She made sure we had all we needed to have our own personal holiday with her husband and daughter Grace! As we played our Wii, Mr joe, Mrs Connie and Mr Eric and their families arrived to get a good nights' rest before our call time for tomorrow. So, Good Night to ALL !

Catching up with the Time Zone !

Wednesday started us off with a bit of a holiday break. We are staying in a small town just south of San Jose, called Morgan Hill. This "town" actually seems smaller than Huntsville. I could be mistaken.....we haven't got out much yet. We had to go into San Jose to rent a car so we could venture north to the famous big city of San Fransico. Again it was another cold drizzly day! Surprise...Surprise....Surprise! There was lots of "public parking" areas ranging from $12 to $18 for all day parking. On top of that we parked at pier 15, those of you familiar with the area, Broadway at Embarcadera(?), and walked, in the cold drizzly rain, all the way to Pier 39. Along the way we had an interesting encounter with a public "toilet"! At first we thought it was an elevator to an underground parking or shopping center, like in Atlanta. So we walked up to it and low and behold....A Toilet was behind the sliding door!! Pier 39 is mainly all shops and touristy stuff. We saw the sea lions and barked with them for a few minutes. Jessica and I got sprinkled with pixie dust from The Fairy Store. It was a quaint yet touristy adventure. I am thankful for the weather inhibiting other tourist from the overcrowding the shops just for us. The aquarium was neat with its underwater tunnel that makes you feel like you're "sleeping with the fishes". We also visited the Wax and Ripley's museums. After dinner at Boudin's, famous for their bread making by using some kind of virus only known to be in San Fran Bay area, we hailed a cab back to our car, which was well worth the $10, instead of the long haul back to pier 15. We then drove through China Town, and bore witness to the intricate turns and downward slope of Lombard Street.
We have decided to present a family challenge to our readers of this blog, as we are not able to enjoy our usual hometown holidays with you.....Throughout our adventure here and upon our return.... how many Christmas Trees can you count from our adventure? Who knows we might have a fun little prize for the best answer!!
Happy Turkey Day, We miss you all !

Day 2 - Kelly Park, San Jose

Another cold cloudy day here in northern California. Everyone was in high spirits even though we had a late night on Monday. The park was an interesting place with some kind of miniature railroad tracks running through it. A paved path wound down and around trees and cement slab picnic tables to offer its' visitors different perspectives of the park. Jessica found a large group of wild cats to captivate her curiosity. The shoot itslef started out with "Teddy" stealing a hot dog from a vendor. After 3 takes of trying to get the dog to take the hot dog but not eat it, Little Bear was just too full to want any more! John-Paul as always had a great time. The other cast members were very patient and ready to make their entances as well. The key makeup artist has been officially made top rank to "Shoot Mama". She pretty much has everything anybody needs at any moment! A true girl scout. Thank goodness hair has been simple for these shoots. My work will really come into play next week when the named actors start rolling in. I will try to have pictures uploaded tomorrow! We have the day off.....so we're gonna do some sightseeing!

Til next time.......
B

First Day of Shooting

We started shooting yesterday at about 12pm. It was cold and cloudy. (I really don't like northern CA weather!) The first thing we shot was "Danny" fishing in a creek. JP had to sit on a tree stump with a stick and a thin rope as a fishing line. (Like a true southerner...lol) We had a little trouble trying to get "Teddy" the dog to take one of the fish away from JP. They had to coat it with cream cheese for him to be interested in it and then he wouldn't bite it to take it away. I think the funniest part was when the dog was on break, in his chair of coarse, and JP said his only line for that part, which was "Hey!", and then dog tried to go to him and take the fish. At least the dog knew the scene we were working on! Then we did dome other small shots without lines. These scenes are all second unit scenes which means we don't have trailer with us or access to some essentials, like snacks and a pillow. We're gonna have to get them a list of things JP likes to eat, so that he will eat. (Ya gotta have chicken nuggets for a 9 year old!) He was so tired by 8pm. We're still not adjusted to Pacific Time yet. We finally got into bed about 1030pm and up at 730am.
Jessica is a little bored. But she doesn't like to impose upon anyone. I'm hoping they ask her to do some tech type work. They have asked her on occasion to help take care of Little Bear, and she likes that. We won't be getting to worok with any of the named actors until after Thanksgiving.

Take Care to ALL and HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!

B

On Our Way to California

Well, today is Sunday, Nov 23 rd and we'll be on a plane to San Jose ,CA in about 6 hours. I have had a lot of people asking me to keep in touch, and I love the idea of a page /blog thingy. I am only somewhat computer literate though! I don't want everyone to think I don't care about them or that I just dropped off the face of the earth. So here is my attempt at a blog! I'll try to update as often as possible.

Anyway- Gotta go finish packing - I can't remember the last time I/ we have been away for longer than a week!

A NEW ADVENTURE !!!!

Tell everyone HI for me and they can write anytime.